Padma Bhushan award conferred upon Swami Tejomayananda, Swami Dayananda Saraswati

New Delhi: Swami Tejomayananda, the Head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide and Swami Dayananda Saraswati of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, who recently passed away, have been chosen for Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian honor conferred by the Government of India.

Chinmaya Mission, which was founded by Swami Chinmayananda in 1954, is currently involved in a wide range of activities ranging from spreading the message of Vedanta to imparting secular education, facilitating rural development, and providing health facilities to common people. Swami Tejomayananda is the current spiritual and organizational head who oversee all activities undertaken by the mission.

In May 2015, the Narendra Modi government had also released a commemorative coin to mark the birth centenary of Swami Chinmayananda.

Swami Dayananda Saraswati, was a traditional teacher of Advaita Vedanta, who started Arsha Vidya Gurukulam to impart a thorough knowledge in Indian knowledge systems- Vedanta, Ayurveda, Yoga, Jyotishya, etc. The centers are also involved in service and publication activities.

Apart from Swami Tejomayananda and Swami Dayananda Saraswati, the Government also awarded Padma Bhushan to 17 other people, including Anupam Kher, Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal, former CAG Vinod Rai, NRI industrialist Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, and former US envoy Robert Blackwill.